Very Thin Ball Python

If you can't figure out how to post a pic on here you can email it to me and i will post it on this thread for you. my e-mail is aomarine67@gmail.com. Just let me know its you so I don't toss it thinking its junkmail. good luck with the snake. ask any questions you may have. From the sounds of it you may want to keep an eye out on craigslist for a larger tank. a 20 gal or 20 gal long should serve well for the time being but no rush fatten him up a big before putting the stress of a completely new enclosure on him.

X3 on the not rushing and stuffing food into him. Go slow and he'll come through this. Be as hands off as possible until he is better. I know it's hard but handling at this point would jut stress this poor baby out. I also think that on his fist defecation you should get a fecal test done. Most vets can do them, and it would give you a good starting base. Just as a precaution. Parasites isn't common but it's not an impossibility either.

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Originally Posted by Bones

I understand that everyone here is trying to help her, but it just kind of bothers me to read the whole "do you have this, that, what are the exact temperatures, blah blah blah" stuff. It's not like she went out and bought this snake without doing any research. She found a snake that someone left behind and was nice enough to try to take care of it. So of course, she isn't going to have the exact perfect, coveted set-up right away. Maybe instead of automatically asking those types of questions to a person who has never owned a snake and is rescuing one from a negligent owner, we should suggest the proper things to do instead of assuming that they're going to have everything correct right away. If they've never had a snake, they're not going to know exactly what to do or that it even needs to have thermometers, thermostats, etc. Hence the reason why she came here.

Nalababi, you came to the right place to ask for advice and everyone here is giving you great advice. I pretty much don't have anything to add other than what everyone else has told you. Feeding him multiple prey items in one feeding isn't recommended. Go with what Agent told you and feed it prey that is no larger than the widest part of his body. Since he's been eating well, I'm sure if you feed him once a week or every 5 days or so, he'll be in good shape in no time. :)

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I agree! Thank you for asking and trying to take care of him-that's what's important :gj:

My advice is to make an account on an online photo album site like photoucket or flicker. They are free and you can insert the pictures directly into the post. If you do that, hover over the picture and copy the "IMG Code" and paste it here.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...otobucket1.jpg

Good luck with this snake. You have some good advice so far. BPs can be pretty finicky so consider yourself lucky that he ate for you. I couldn't help you will size of prey till I see a picture of him, and like I said, I advise that you join one of the sites I mentioned and post the picture directly into the post.

I also suggest never putting your email in any thread on any forum. Spammers have a hay day with forums these days.

Feed him feed him feed him. You can just keep feeding him fuzzies and hoppers for a few weeks until he seems okay getting them down, but offer him at least two or three per meal, once a week. And leave him alone for a couple days afterwards so he doesn't regurgitate. (Don't mess with his temps right after a meal, either--that's how I ended up with a baby ball python barfing up mice two weeks after I got her.) And in a couple weeks you can start moving him up to small and then large mice.

And find a good reptile vet in your area. You want to make sure he's parasite free. If he's just underfed, you'll be able to sort him out with food and good husbandry--but if he's got mites or intestinal issues, you'll need to diagnose that, and he may need treatment.

First of all, wonderful thing you are doing, kudos :)

The danger with heat pads made for animals is that they can get quite hot. Snakes do not feel the heat as "pain" until it is to late, and easily get a really nasty burn on their belly.

Therefore its important to make sure the "hot side" doesn't get to hot. A temp gun is a great thing, but in the meantime one can monitor the heat by using a cheap digital thermometer from Walmart etc. They have a probe which you can place on the warm side of the tank to make sure the warm side stays around 95 degrees at the most (between 90 and 95) Our body temperature should be around 98 degrees, so unless our hands are cold, the warmspot for the snake should feel barely warm to us, not hot. Or else its to hot.

The cool side should be around 80 degrees.

It helps to cover the top screen with silver foil to keep some humidity in the tank. Another crucial are at least 2 hides. They need to be small enough for the snake to feel "snug" inside. They can be something as simple as cardboard boxes from food items, plastic bowls, or the pre made plastic hides for animals.

In the beginning the correct setup may sound complicated and overwhelming, but when getting right down to it, its not that bad ! The heat needs to be right and controlled and the Ball Python needs a place to hide and feel safe. One can always make it "better" and more elaborate later on, for now, its sort of an emergency and I'm not sure how much time and money you want to invest into this. You might just fall in love with the little guy :)

If so, we are here to help every step of the way !!

Its a good sign he ate at all. If he really is as skinny as you say , small meals are good for now, you don't want to make him sick and regurgitate. Once you see he passes the meals just fine, you can feed small meals, every 4 to 5 days, later on every 7 days for an appropriate sized meal. He should grow quickly now !!!

If he turns dull looking, and his eyes look opaque, he will be getting ready to shed, this is the time when you want to bump up the humidity. It takes about 5 days (more or less) from the "blue opaque" phase until they actually shed. They turn all clear looking again before the skin comes off.

Please keep asking questions and keep taking care of that poor little guy. Pictures would be great, as well :)

Nalababi, hello, and :welcome: to BP.net.
Thank You for taking an interest in the health and survival of this animal. As was said above, if you can't get a thermostat right away, them a basic lamp dimmer can be used. You can get them at places like Home Depot, Lowes or hardware stores in the Lighting section. Here is a link to a thread that shows what they look like and how to use them:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Instructions

While a thermostat is preferred for controlling the Under Tank Heater, they come in a variety of styles, prices and features. If you are interested in a good basic thermostat, here is one that you might look at:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...1529683&sr=1-7

For measuring temperatures, alot of people use Temp guns, but you can also use digital thermometers. I like the Acu-Rite Indoor/Outdoor thermometer. It has a probe, so you can use it to monitor both the warm side temp and the cool side temp, and it will tell you the humidity as well. Sometimes you can find them in stock at Wal-Mart in the Home Hardware section, or at Home Depot or Lowes in the Outdoors section. Here is a link to where they can be ordered from Amazon, and you can see what they look like:

http://www.amazon.com/Chaney-Instrum...1630682&sr=1-7

It may seem a little overwhelming at first, but these really are fascinating animals and worth the effort.